Immigration to begin second phase of HKIC upgrade

The Immigration Department (Immd) is set to begin on January 21 the second phase of its territory-wide Hong Kong Identity Card replacement program.

The Immd said those born in 1985 and 1986 should replace their HKIC from January 21 to March 30. Migrant workers, like overseas Filipino workers, are included in the program.

“During the second phase, which is from January 21 to March 30, ImmD will arrange Hong Kong residents who were born in 1985 or 1986 to replace their existing smart HKICs,” the Immd said in a statement.”

” Afterwards, during the third phase, which is from April 1 to June 1, Hong Kong residents who were born in 1968 or 1969 will be arranged to replace their smart HKICs,” it added.

No fee will be charged for new smart HKICs issued under the replacement program but those who fail to replace their HKICs during the specified period without a valid reason could face a fine of $5,000.

The ImmD urged members of the public to make a booking and pre-fill the application form before going to replacement centres

“The ImmD appeals to members of the public to use the website www.gov.hk/newicbooking, ImmD Mobile App, or 24-hour telephone booking hotline 2121 1234 for booking and encourages applicants to pre-fill the form via the Internet or ImmD Mobile App in order to further enhance the efficiency and convenience of the replacement process,” it said.

For details of the new smart HKICs, members of the public may visit the website www.smartid.gov.hk, it added.

The governement also opened last month the nine Smart Identity Card Replacement Centres where the public can have their cards replaced: